Pick

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /pɪk/

Definitions

1. To choose or select from a group or collection based on preference or criteria ; a small hand tool with a pointed end used for loosening or removing material ; to pluck or gather something, such as fruit or flowers, from a place
2. To make a decision by opting for one option among many ; a pointed instrument used to chip away or extract substances ; to remove or harvest items by hand from their natural environment
3. To single out or decide upon something from a number of possibilities ; a narrow, sharp tool employed for digging or scraping ; to collect or take items directly by hand from plants or surfaces

Etymology: Before it meant choosing, "pick" meant something closer to striking a sharp blow. Its Old English ancestors, "pīcan" and "pȳcan," carried the sense of pricking or plucking, and the word traces back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning to peck or knock. The sound of that root is imitative: it is tied to a dull, hollow noise, which is why pecking and picking have always sat so close together. From that early sense of jabbing or pulling, the word spread into a wide range of uses. Pricking gave way to plucking things out, and plucking out gave way to selecting. Gathering fruit, choosing a team, and picking a lock all grew from the same small motion of the fingers or beak. "Pick" is also a doublet of "pitch" and "peck," words that entered English by different routes but share the same ancestry. Dutch "pikken," German "picken," and Swedish "picka" still carry the original meaning of pecking or picking.

Synonyms: choose, select, opt, elect, decide

Antonyms: reject, dismiss, disregard, ignore, refuse